The Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG) will increase the percentage of ribbed smoked sheet (RSS) from five percent to ten percent by 2015. However, the use of firewood to produce RSS has made difficulties for rubber businesses.
To overcome difficulties, the Rubber Research Institute of Vietnam has adopted a solution to use pressed rice husk instead of firewood in drying RSS.
Using pressed rice husk instead of firewood has been tested in the Lai Khe Rubber Latex Processing Factory since May 2013. According to initial results, products had achieved basic standards. The use of pressed rice husk has helped save fuel costs from 22-30 percent, equivalent to VND100,000 per tonne of products. Together with a capacity of 30,000 tonnes of products per year, the company could save several billions of Vietnamese dong.
VRG’s Industry Department Deputy Head Nguyen Hoang Thai said that pressed rice husk is the agricultural sector’s secondary product. Therefore, it is plentiful, cheap and easy to control in the burning process. In addition, when using pressed rice husk, temperature in each furnace will be more stable, contributing to improving RSS product quality.
Rubber must be rolled to remove serum and achieve a thickness of two to three mm. In addition, it must be dried for 24 hours before putting into a furnace. A furnace will have a capacity of 2-2.3 tonnes of products per batch with a drying time of 70-72 hours. To burn pressed rice husk, workers must use firewood at the beginning.
After a drying time of 44-48 hours, the highest temperature will be 75-78 Celsius degree. To produce a tonne of finished products, 152.8kg of pressed rice husk and 1.5cu.m of firewood are needed. Pressed rice husk prices are VND1,500 per kg, helping save fuel costs from 22-30 percent. The quality criteria will achieve at a high level, meeting TCCS105:2009 basic standards.
Pressed rice husk can replace fossil coal, charcoal, diesel oil and FO for burning industrial boilers. Using pressed rice husk instead of other fuels is very convenient because it does not need to change the original design. Despite the higher temperature of gas, diesel oil and FO, firewood and pressed rice husk will bring greater economic efficiency, contributing to bringing greater profits for businesses. In addition, using pressed rice husk will contribute to resolving scarce firewood and protecting natural forests./.
Source: VEN
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